Wednesday, January 23, 2013

XGFX Peanut Butter Cup King Cake Recipe

XGFX Peanut Butter Cup King Cake of Richness.
A yeasted gluten-free dough filled with chocolate mousse and covered in a peanut butter confectioner's glaze. With bedazzling.

As promised, here's the first of a few King Cakes I plan to share with you this month. Please be sure to read through the primer I posted the other day, as it'll help illuminate all of the steps you need to make and do in order to put this thing together properly.

As you can see, the cake cracks while it bakes. I think it's beautiful and rustic.
Plus all the flare on top mostly covers them up, so no one will really notice.

The cake nudiness lets you see all of the moussy goodness tucked inside.

Although there are lots of steps to this cake, I think the xgfx version
is faster than it's gluten-filled cousin, since you don't need to set
aside any time for dough rising. Twice I was able to make and eat a cake within two hour's time.

Preheat your oven to 360F. Make the chocolate filling and stick it in the freezer while you make the dough. Or make it ahead, and keep it covered in the fridge.

In a blender (not food processor), blend together the cashews, flax and 1/2 cup water for several minutes, until smooth and thickened (if you can't get the mixture smooth in your blender, small pieces of cashew are OK, but get it as blended as possible).

Transfer the mixture into a small saucepan and add the vegan butter. Warm over low heat until just melted. Remove from heat and stir in the yogurt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add together the remaining dry ingredients. Blend together on low speed to combine.

Add the milk mixture and beat until just combined. Add in the remaining water, tablespoon by tablespoon until the mixture comes together into a well mixed ball (Both times I've made this, I've needed to use all 6 tablespoons). The dough will be a little stickier and wetter than a traditional yeasted wheat dough, but not unmanageable.

Cut a big 2 foot sheet of parchment, lay it on your countertop and sprinkle with a tablespoon of sorghum flour. Place the dough on top and using your hands, begin to pat the dough into a rectangle. Sprinkle more flour on top and onto a rolling pin, and roll the dough into a 13"X20" rectangle (my parchment is 13" wide, so I roll to the entire width of the paper) about 1/8"-1/4" inch thick.

Spread the chocolate filling evenly over the dough, keeping an inch margin on both shorter sides and 1 1/2" inch margin across the top filling free.

Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the filling.

Carefully begin rolling the dough into a coil, beginning at the widest bottom edge. Roll slowly and carefully, pinching the side edges of the coil closed as you go, to prevent any filling from oozing out. As you go, you will need to gently lift and roll so that the mousse is not squeezed out of the coil onto the top edge--use the parchment to help you.

When your coil is within 2-2 1/2" from the top, stop rolling. Using the parchment paper to help you, bring the top portion of the dough down over the coil.

The dough pictured is a wheat dough, and thus more stretchy, but this is what you're gently aiming for.

Carefully pinch the seam, then using the paper again, roll the dough so it is positioned seam-down on the counter.

Ever so carefully, and little by little, ease the dough into a circle. It may tear a little, and that's OK since it won't show much once it's been glazed. Try to tuck one of the ends under the coiled circle, and pinch the ends together as best you can.

Using the paper as a crane hammock, carefully transfer the parchment and dough circle onto a baking sheet. It helps to have the baking sheet right in front of you so you can slide the dough right on top without moving it too much.

Bake until lightly brown on top--30-35 minutes.

Cool for about 20 minutes, then with a sharp knife carefully make a slit in the side and insert your bean baby.

Glaze the cake using one of the two recipes below, using a small teaspoon to help evenly spread the icing (I usually slide the cake carefully off of the parchment and onto a cooling rack and do this over a tray--as pictured below or slide it onto a tin foiled piece of cardboard, then frost). A third glaze option: spread 1-2 tablespoons peanut butter all over the top of the warm cake, then top with the regular icing.

Throw everything into the jar of a blender and pulverize until creamy and smooth.

Regular Icing

What You Need:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-4 tablespoons unsweetened milk

What You Do:

Beat well to combine, adding the milk little by little, until thick and drizzle-able.

Peanut Butter Icing

What You Need:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup crunchy or smooth salted peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 tablespoons unsweetened milk

What You Do:

Beat well to combine, adding the milk little by little, until thick and drizzle-able.

Notes!
✪ This cake is much simpler and easier to make with instant yeast/Rapid Rise. If you've never used instant yeast before, it makes baking complicated doughs much simpler, since proofing is not necessary. You just add the yeast to the dry ingredients and you're good to go. If you don't have access to instant yeast, simply use the same amount of active dry yeast, but proof it first in some of the water and sugar (1/4 cup of the water and a tablespoon of the sugar until foamy. Then add to liquid ingredients and proceed).

✪ This dough should not be risen before being baked. XGFX doughs can't hold up to a lot of rising--the structure of the dough isn't strong enough and they collapse. Instead, I took a lesson from Jennifer Katzinger's Artisan Gluten-Free Bread and pop this in the oven right after forming. The dough will rise in the oven as it bakes due to oven spring.

✪ Please don't make this dough by hand. The dough benefits from being well mixed and aerated in the mixer and the friction activates the xantham in a way kneading by hand does not.

✪ Although I havn't tried this, 1/4 cup shortening instead of the Earth Balance should work fine. Coconut oil would also probably do, although I find coconut oil drying in baked goods.

✪ This cake is best served the day of baking. Leftovers should be covered and put in the fridge, and can be warmed gently in the microwave.

Well we need to remedy that, Amy! King Cakes are sorta like cinnamon roll dough or danish, and then the fillings change 'em around. Plain ones are sorta boring, so I try to make them fun and mousse fillings keep them moist!

Had to post to say, your shoes are adorable, and so blue! Blue shoes are best!

Also you have no idea the amount of self restraint that's gone on from my end *not* making a king cake after all these tantalizingly colourful posts you've been writing. Any more like this and I'm going to cave for sure. I know it's bound to be the best thing I've ever tasted, and I've never had one either!

The new wordpress reader shows you the photo from the post first and then the blogger who wrote the post further down.I knew as soon as I saw the photo that this was your post. Shame on me. I've never heard of a king cake! I heart your bowling shoes!

I just made this, but with cinnamon tofutti filling.. I'm still in the beginner stage of gf-baking. I thought the layers inside were good, but the outer layer was hard and fibrous. Did I cook it too long or is that just the nature of gf things?

These are affiliate links to my cookbook, and to the griddle I use for making really amazing, large, homemade teff injera! If you're planning to order via Amazon, please consider purchasing through my blog (I'll earn a small commission on each sale).